Digital print

I met with Peter Randell from The Digital Press to discuss the printing of my book on Friday 23rd. I explained that due to having 5 spreads consisting of text only, I didn't really want to perfect bind my book as some of the characters would get lost in the gutter.

He proposed that I stitch the book giving a "cleaner" look and improving legibility. I'm not sure if it is the look I'm after, but I think it might be the best option, most in keeping with the design of the book.

He provided me with a quote (below) and I'm going to have a chat with Kit on Monday as to the best way forward.

Hi James
to print 2 copies off 260x190
48pp text on 130 gsm silk
4pp cover on 300 gsm silk
2 wire stitch
£160
ad 2 pp section every 4 pp and hand stitch add £40


100pp perfect bound job with around 30 pages printed rest blank sheets
300 gsm cover and perfect bound

£100

Regards
Pete

Dayfold

I met with Chris Pollard from Dayfold this morning to discuss whether I could get my project litho printed. The best quote was £3,040 + VAT and that didn't include the cover. I'm sure that's very competitive but its just a little out of my reach.

He said it would be a little cheap if I changed my book dimensions from W:180 x H:260 as they could then fit 3 spreads on to a plate. I was prepared to change the size, but the quote was only going to change by 20% so it was irrelevant really.

Chris showed me around the premises for around an hour and explained the whole print process. It was an excellent insight in to how a proper printers works, and he showed me some of the work they are carrying out for some bespoke clients.

He also went through paper stock with me and showed me many of the options available. I decided not to use a matt finish for the inside pages as I didn't like the way the photos print, despite Chris saying this was very popular at the moment.

I have decided on 130-140gsm silk for the inside of the book and a cover of 300-350gsm coated, Chirs said both would be fine for printing this style of book and relatively cheap.

I have a much clearer understanding now of the whole process, and in future I would love to be in the position to have something printed to this standard.

He did give me the details of a digital printer in Boscombe who he recommended and I visited him afterwards for another quote and some help.

Copywriting

My book has quite a lot of text in it, the first spread of each day is text only and then I have a narrative explaining where the person went to. I enjoy writing and find the process quite simple, but in reading the book Copywriting: Successful writing for design, advertising and marketing by Mark Shaw, I have adapted quite a large amount of the copy.

The book is very interesting, giving case studies as well as general rules and techniques to try.

After the visit of Liam Donnelly from CHI & Partners, I have been looking at a career in copywriting. I sometimes find it easier to sum up what I want to say with a few words than with images. He explained to me that he studied design but when he presented his work in interviews, he was recognised for his copywriting talent rather than his design skills.

I still haven't finished the book but it has helped enormously in getting the copy right in the book and I feel really pleased with the way the book now reads.

JPEG hell

That is two days of my life I won't be getting back, going through images, choosing the ones I want and discarding the others. I think I maybe over did the photography but I was concerned that I would get back home and not have an image I might need so I pretty much did the Japanese tourist thing and photographed anything that moved and some things that didn't.

I am pleased with with the final images. Only on one occasion (the office worker) did the image come out blurred. I would have preferred a clear image, but the guy was such a good subject - checking his hair in mirrors and shop windows - that I am going to keep him in.

Got some really good feedback from Neil and Sally about the colour on the side of the pages. I had chosen a palette from kuler that I had put quite a lot of thought into but they said about picking out a colour from the image and using that, as my colours were a bit garish. Initially I wanted them to be bright as I wanted the book to be colourful, but I admit it was a little too much and I have used the colour picker to take a colour from each image and it looks very good.

Now to create the master pages.

Back from BCN and I am JPEG'd up to my eyeballs!

Finally work is finished for the week and I can concentrate on my prof project. Phew! I took loads of images whilst in Spain and even had to reenact one of the journeys made as I lost all the images on the camera! Mierda. I think the images have worked really well and I got lots of people going to various places so now I can sit down and decide which people/restaurants I want to to use.

The downside was that I followed a couple of people who went...well, nowhere! One guy went home and the other just seemed to wander around like it was his day off, maybe he didn't have mush of an appetite that day.

I had a few ideas for layouts too which I might try and picked up a great little book which is like an image only guide to the city, which I got a lot of inspiration from.

It is going to take an age to go through all the images, so best get started...

The Return

Tomorrow I am off to BCN again and its my final chance to take all the images I'll need for the book.

I have a strong layout now and I don't anticipate it changing to radically now depending on feedback in critiques. I have made a list of any generic images I need and also a few extras! There were occasions last time where I followed someone and didn't get enough shots really, so this time I will have to follow them again (or a different person) and record the journey better.

I'm also not 100% happy with how one of the "following sessions" turned out whilst I was there, as they went to nice bar but didn't eat after having an argument with someone, and technically it wasn't in Gracia either.

So my batteries are charged, SD cards empty and list ready for my final curtain call. If I don't get the images I need this time, there is no going back!

Fingers crossed.

Communication Breakdown

I went to visit The Roman Group in Southbourne today to discuss printing my book, after initially speaking with them on the phone.

I explained everything I wanted, dimensions, embossing, paper stock etc., and then he asked me how many I wanted.....and was a bit shocked when I said 2 or 3!

He said it would run into thousands to only have that quantity done and gave me contact details for a digital printer who they recommend.

I did explain on the phone that I was a student and I only needed a couple of copies but they obviously didn't hear that! Disappointed, as I really wanted to produce a 'proper' book, professionally litho printed.

The digital printer has quoted me £300+VAT for two copies which seems excessive and he also said if I wanted embossing on the cover then the set up cost alone would be £90+VAT.

I am thinking of ways around this, and wondering if I can produce the embossing on the cover using the letterpress at Uni?

And if I am having it digitally printed, I might print it at the Uni or at least at Image XL, where I'm sure I could get some 'mate's rates'!

I still have a couple of Litho printers who could help, so all is not lost!